Starting my own garden is something that I have been wanting to do for awhile now so this year I “took the plunge”. These days it’s just so hard to know what you are really buying and eating when shopping for vegetables and produce at your “local” nation-wide grocery chains.

Our food is absolutely LOADED with tons of toxins, herbicides, pesticides, and steroids, just to name a few, all of which have been shown to lead to huge long-term negative side-affects, illness and disease on a mass scale, both in animals and human-beings. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the produce available in stores today is genetically engineered, meaning it is void of the vitamins, nutrients and minerals our body craves and is in desperate need of.

We wonder why America is the fattest and sickest nation in the world… Of course, the reasons for that are many and I am barely scratching the surface here, but we have to start somewhere.

Research shows that between 1964 and the end of the 1990s, pesticide usage in agriculture doubled from 500 million pounds to over 1 billion. Since WWII pesticide use has risen 10 fold and crop loss due to pests has doubled. US Agriculture uses 1.2 billion lbs of pesticides each year – that is the equivalent of roughly 5 lbs for every American (If you have children in the public school system, you will definitely want to watch this short video http://twitclicks.com/2v4c).

Yes, you can buy organic but organics can get a bit expensive, I know. Luckily, there’s a way to grow your own delicious, fresh produce, while having fun, learning and “becoming more self-sufficient” all at the same time: starting your own organic garden!

Don’t know where to start? It is possible to hire someone to install and maintain a garden for you. But most of us can roll up our sleeves with a surprisingly small amount of effort. Remember, you can start small, even with just a single plant or two. Don’t worry if things aren’t perfect right away.

Organic gardening means you won’t be using synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, but that doesn’t mean your plants are left to fend for themselves. There are an array of tools you can use to bolster plant health and ward off pests. Organic gardening also isn’t just about what you don’t do, it’s also about trying to foster a more holistic, natural ecosystem.

For those interested, here is a link to a great video series by Ed Bruske http://twitclicks.com/6gmg in which he shares all kinds of great tips for starting, maintaining, growing, and harvesting your first garden.